Improvement in flood-pence



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RICHWOOD, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 85,271, dated December 29, 1865.

IMPROVELIENT INV FLOOD-FENCE.

The Schedule refen'ed to in these Letters Patent and-making part of the same.

To all whom 'it lmay conce/rn:

Be it known that l, DAVID P. BIRD, of Richwood, in the county of Union, and State of Ohio, have invented anew and useful Improved Fence; andi do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, sufficient to enable those skilled inthe art to which my invention appertains, to make and use the same, reference being had .to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a front or side view ofthe fence in position, and

Figure 2, an end view of the same.

My improvements relate to that class offences used for crossing running streams of water, and known as Hood-fences.

Common fences used in running water are extremely liable to injury and destruction when the stream is swollen, on account, especially, of the drift-wood, which descends, in man y cases, very rapidly, and with an irresistible force.

. To avoid this destruction, fences have been devised, se constructed and arranged asrto be thrown down when struck by driitt-wood, and capable of being again set.

up when the water has fallen. Such fences have, however, heretofore proved unsatisfactory, because the cost and labor attending their construction and adjustment were considerable, but especially' for the reason that after being set up at much cost and labor, they have frequently failed to operate eli'ectually.

'ihe object of my invention is to provide a light andy simple panel-fence, which shall not fail to operate as desired, and which shall, at the same time, be capable ol' ready rcadiustment. f

My invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth.

ln order to convey a full understanding of my invention, l will now proceed to desoiibe .the saine in detail, referring to the accompanying drawings, in the several ligurcs of which similar letters indicate like parts.

A represen ts the panels of my fence, each constructed.A

ot' eml-uprights or posts, a, of metal, and horizontal wires b b. These wires are attached, at each extremity, to the posts, in any suitable manner.

lt will be seen that the panels A are entirely disconnected, one from the other, and separately hinged ,lhc object of this arrangement is to avoid the necessity of the entire fencebeing thrown down when struck only at one point by drift-wood.

e is a central strengthening-whe, connecting all 'the wires Il I together, and serving to prevent the same from being spriuig apart, and thereby injured, by tloat ing drift, or by animals seeking to pass that way. The wire e is twisted several times around the upper and lower wires b oi' the panel, whilst it is twisted but once :1r each intermediate wire.

B represents hooks ins'erted through holes made in the lower portion ot each post a.. rAfter the hooks sta-'nd before giving way.

These hooks are formed with shanks, adapted to be y fixed inthe bottoni of the stream, in a manner to be now described.

By means of a pointed iron bar, or other suitable implement, a hoh.r is made in the ground, of propel' size to receive the shank of the hook. 'lhe latter is then inserted in the hole, and a wooden wedge, al, driven in at the back of the hook, on the down-stream side, so as to force the shank of the hook iirmly into the solid ground.

The hooks may be made of any length desired, ae-y cording as the soil is sandy, stony, or composed chiefly of clay, in order to secure the stability of the fence.

'llo sustain the panels in an upright position, braces l) are employed. The lower ends of these braces are secured in an inclined direction, in the bottom of the stream, in the' sanic manner and by similar means as the hooks B. `Each brace is bent at its upper end, as shown in lig. l, and thel bont portion, e, is inserted through a hole made near the top of each post u.

To preventthe brace being drawn out from the post accidentally, an opening, j, is iitted in a hole made through the bent portion e, between `the end of the latter and the post through 'which it passes.

1t will be noticed that the braces are all situated on theup-stream side of the fence, the arrow in lig. 2 pointing down stream.

In setting up the fence, the braces are to be rh'awn lout by-lmnd, and tried in the soil, until the desired depth is obtained, according to the nature of the soil, and the force which it is desired theieuce shall with- 'lhe deeper the braces are set, the greater will be the pressure requisite to draw them out and throw down the fence.

When, in of a freshet, the water in the stream rises to an unusual height, drift-Wood will 4be borne down with rapidity and force dependent upon the height of the water, the flow oi" the current, and the-weight and size of the floating body. The drift-wood is arrested in its downward course by the fence, against the upper part of' which it strikes, until, sooner or later, according to the pressure ot' the drift and the h'xture of the braces, the latter are drawn out from the ground, and the fence, or hat panel which was struck, falls back, down stream, flat on the bottom of the latter, and the drift passes over, unimpeded' in its course.

This latter position ofthe fence is shown in red lines in iig. 2.

lVhen the water in the stream has sutiiciently fallen, the fence, or that portion of the same which may havebeen prostrated, is 'restored to its upright position, and there retained, by fastening the braces, as before.

By my invention l am enabled to produce, at small comparative cost, a neat and light, yet substantial fence, possessing, among its many advantages, these of almost cel-minV opuintion, simple mmstrnctinn, tho-ile. Fraction, and ready i'clml'.

It frequentlv mc-nrs that :i strezuullies heiwe-,vn t-wo luuls, :mil nach ownc-r is entitled tu occupy tu the entre of the stl'enn. Now, he. nia-y, by 'fencing towzi-l'ils the centra of tlmsti'emn, and then forming an :i1-,nte angle, return t0 thiA saune 'side of the. sti'mn, :unl thus nmke :i` watcl'ing-plzme for stock.

1 :im aware ofthe patentgr'mld tu J. B, Johnson, dated December 17, 1867, but- :Ls this forms un part of my invention, I (lo not wish to claim t;'b1lt What l lo claim :is new, and of my imenbi 'n1,islhe eye-bolts B, m which t-he posts a of the panels uw hingvd, in umnbination with the braces D :md their wedges, substantially :is :unl for the purpose described. To the above, l. have signed my name, tl1is-14i1h luy of'August, 1868.

l DAVID P. BIRD. `Witnesses W. H. FERGUSON, A. J. BLAKE. 

